November 30, 2017

In 2012, the whole "Today" show gang made light of sexual harassment and impugned the motives of women who complain about it.



It's funny how not funny that is today, but I want to call attention to is the strange level of awareness/unawareness that seems to have prevailed at NBC. I suspect this little sketch grew out of the inside joke that Matt Lauer was a problem. There's something awfully creepy about the way the women on the couch play along and act delighted about the fun of it all.

And notice the lines given to Lauer, who is put in the female role in the encounter:
“I’m upset for a couple of reasons. One, that he denied it. I mean, why deny it? I mean, if you do it, own up to it. And secondly, since it happened, he hasn’t called, he hasn’t written. Nothing."
The interviewer prompts: "That may be the worst part of all." And Lauer says meaningfully (in a manner clearly intended to question the integrity of women who complain about sexual harassment): "The abandonment."

143 comments:

Mike Sylwester said...

The video's purpose was to humiliate some female employee who complained about Lauer.

Mike Sylwester said...

When you are a star, you can humiliate female employees who complain about your smacking their ass.

MacMacConnell said...

SARAH HOYT: The Moving Finger Fingers Our “Moral Betters.” “What happened in most of these cases is extortion and abuse of power. Almost all of the fields where this happened are highly oligarchic and controlled by the left. The males who rose to power in it, mostly by mouthing feminist platitudes, were, therefore, left I unchecked power over the careers of a lot of women. I come from a similar field, and I’m going to tell you I have lots of sympathy for those women. . . . And the sexual extortion in Hollywood, in news, in various kinds of showbiz happened because women gave in to it, cowered to it, and even protected the offenders. Because they wanted a career. . . . No one can victimize you unless you allow it. And allowing yourself to be victimized for power and money is not victimization, it’s greed and ambition. The continuous denunciation carnival grows tiresome, much as we on the right are watching your cannibal feast in growing fascination. The end result of it is to run men from public life as though women had no part in this system.”

Food for thought.

George M. Spencer said...

It would be interesting to find out how many profiles were written about Lauer over the past 10 years, i.e. People magazine covers, profiles in GQ, etc.

Think about all the reporters who botched the assignments....or who knew something and didn't put it in the article...because the magazine probably would have killed the story.

rhhardin said...

Sex is creepy when it's a public matter.

Three quarters of the audience isn't in the mood, for one thing.

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

He's a smooth operator:

'Kelly you are soft and curvy, I like that': US congressman Joe Barton caught sending explicit text messages to woman - a week after apologizing for sending nude pics to another woman

rhhardin said...

One on one, at worst only half the audience isn't in the mood.

Doug said...

When will someone with cojones in NY indict NBC management on criminal conspiracy?

Unknown said...

"The abandonment."

Of course, this probably does play a role in the victim's subsequent psyche.

The abandonment reinforces the idea that they were used.

To take it a step further: they are abandoned on an island. They are more than a three-hour tour away from anyone they think will believe them.

Speaking of deserted islands: I believe that the Skipper would not take advantage of the women in his charge. But if he did, Ginger would probably think it goes with the territory, her being a Movie Star and all.

But I bet Mary Anne would say something. She was spunky.

- james james

tim in vermont said...

They piss on our backs and call it sunshine. But don't worry, you are getting the straight news out of these guys on everything else. Perv's honor!

David Begley said...

Burn down the entire media-industrial complex and then move it to Des Moines.

tim in vermont said...

I think that ARM is even more fascinated by that dick flick than he was by Milo.

Whatever you do, don't attack his precious main stream media. They give us all the "reasonable" news! They don't coddle their viewers at all whatsoever!

Ray said...

The look on Dustin Hoffman's face. Too funny, knowing what we know now.

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

Roy Moore Names Who’s Behind “Malicious” Allegations

"Before Moore spoke, the music portion of the service was led by Rev. Bill Atkinson, who was convicted of obstructing an investigation into child sex abuse at a Honduran orphanage run by one of Atkinson’s sons."

Steve said...

Still not as creepy as his real interview of Anne Hathaway.

https://youtu.be/yruIL5lVGE4?t=78

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

In a previously unreported comment to the now-defunct Maximum Golf magazine, Donald Trump singled out a “young socialite” at his club at Mar-a-Lago by telling a reporter, “there is nothing in the world like first-rate pussy.”

In 2000, Corcoran was a guest on Trump’s 727 that weekend, and he wasn’t the only one. The article published in Maximum Golf magazine notes Trump had to wait at the marine terminal for now-disgraced pedophile billionaire Jeffrey Epstein and his society gal-pal Ghislaine Maxwell—who have since been accused by dozens of women of running what amounted to a “sex slave” ring. Corcoran, who didn’t know the pair at the time, remembers Trump standing in the doorway of the plane yelling to them, “You broke the cardinal rule, Jeffery! Never be late for someone else’s plane!”

Trump’s friendship with Epstein isn’t news. Before the mysterious financier was jailed for operating a sexual pyramid scheme where he allegedly paid minors around $200 for sexual massages that included groping and rape, Epstein was a regular at Mar-a-Lago and had, according to a sworn deposition from Epstein’s brother, ferried the future president at least once on his plane. It has never been reported that Trump returned the favor.

“I’ve known Jeff for 15 years,” Trump told New York magazine in 2002, calling Epstein a “terrific guy,” and “a lot of fun to be with.”

“It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side,” Trump said at the time.

Shouting Thomas said...

Your Marxist feminist ideology made this panic inevitable, Professor, and now you’re trying to capitalize on it.

Women selling T&A in glamorous show biz professions screaming “Don’t Touch!”

The prick tease gambit of your Marxist feminist ideology has been invoked.

“Whores Who Don’t Put Out” has always been a favored strategy of the fag hags who want to turn us all into fags.

Quite a scam you’ve got going, both promoting the panic and decrying it.

FIDO said...

I am doing one of the tedious BS chores which take a lot of time, but not a lot of attention.

So I am binge watching Dexter, which ended in 2013. Just four years back.

I am in season 6. And Masuka and Angel are busy looking at the new intern's ass as she waves it back and forth as she looks at a television monitor.

How does the 'woke' and PC culture write stuff like that anymore? They can't.

The Comedia De La Art had stock characters and tropes which resonated for centuries because it described the human condition. IT didn't give a fig for 'woke' or 'progress'. The same things discussed in Ovid, in Rome, in history, are the same things, the same impulses felt and acted upon by people today.

But a certain segment of society hates this nature. Which is not a excuse for boorish behavior, but that is just it: it is BOORISH, not CRIMINAL (except that Lauer, Polanski, Weinstein and Clinton all seem to have crossed that line hard)

What is my point? I thought the scene was funny. But some people want to stop funny and appreciation of vive le difference.

Amexpat said...

You can't make this stuff up.

I don't think I've ever seen Lauer on the Today show, but I'm enjoying this farce and seeing all these pompous hypocrites, on the right and left, getting their comeuppance.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Flight logs show Bill Clinton flew on sex offender's jet much more than previously known

TrespassersW said...

ARM appears to be giving us a seminar demonstration of "whataboutism."

http://www.knoxnews.com/story/opinion/columnists/george-korda/2017/11/29/dont-silenced-whataboutism-silencing-tactic/906484001/

Gabriel said...

I'm actually more interested in that chyron:

..st again after police find a dead woman's body inside his apartment

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

Roy Jacobsen said...
ARM appears to be giving us a seminar demonstration of "whataboutism."


Simply sharing interesting tidbits from todays news, that might otherwise get overlooked.

tim in vermont said...

Simply sharing interesting tidbits from todays news, that might otherwise get overlooked

Seems like the same dick you've been flogging for over a week. I can see how. people might be more interested in some individual congressman's personal life than the professional conduct of the guy who not only reads the news every morning for millions, but hosts the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade every year.

If you really were the non-partisan you claim to be, it seems like you would just occasionally, provide us to links to stories that shed a bad light on Democrats, like for example, Conyers. But no.

Mike Sylwester said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anne in Rockwall, TX said...

Professor,

As "the Reckoning" continues, seemingly gathering steam daily, I am finding myself wondering how the situation can be fixed. I've thought a lot about it and can't seem to find a workable answer given human nature.

In 40 years of working in many industries from male-dominated mechanical engineering, data analysis, statistics, and tech to female-dominated foster care and adoption, I have to say the use of sex to dominate, get ahead, and to punish has been rampant. Everywhere.

From the male fiscal officer in county child care assuring the plum social worker positions went to his 'favorites' to the women sleeping their way to the top in a nuclear regulatory world, it's always been so.

And yes, I have been both a willing participant of this system and a victim at different times. I am not proud of using the method, but I did it and reaped the benefits. I have also refused and faced the consequences.

I can see this is an important issue to you based on your posts, and I am following your thinking as best I can. Yet, I still cannot find an answer that allows for human behavior.

While I am not asking you to devote a post to your ideas for a solution, I do believe (or perhaps hope) you have some concepts that your Althouse family would like to hear and debate. This is much more than a left vs. right partisan issue. This goes down to the basics of the means to an end. Greed. Power.

How do we fix it?

AnnieC

Mike Sylwester said...

I speculate that the Deep State's plan was to arrange for some young woman to file a lawsuit against our President Trump for sexually abusing her on Epstein's island. After Trump denied the accusation under oath, then Congress would impeach him for perjury.

In other words, the same scenario that had been used to impeach President Clinton would be used to impeach President Trump.

However, the scenario has been spoiled by all these unforeseen accusations against important liberals.

Rae said...

This dude earned $25,000,000 a year and all he could come up with to entertain himself was dicking his coworkers. He could have done anything in his spare time.

JPS said...

I didn't find the skit all that funny, but I chuckled when Lauer started to talk and the sad piano music started. If they're making fun of how easily and insincerely they can play on people's emotions, that's actually a surprisingly good jab at themselves.

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

tim in vermont said...
it seems like you would just occasionally, provide us to links to stories that shed a bad light on Democrats


I thought the Trump one did this. Jeffrey Epstein and Trump together on “The Lolita Express” makes Clinton's association with the two men look even worse.

narciso said...

Modern golf magazine, yet Tina brown apparently didn't speak about her business partner Harvey Einstein.

MadisonMan said...

In 2012, when Democratic Barack Obama was President, ...

That's how the title of this Blog Post should start. The Reckoning would not have started under President Hillary Clinton.

tim in vermont said...

ARM calls anybody who said that he defended Bill Clinton a liar:

One of the commenters on this article makes the point that Ken Starr had access to all of these alleged victims of Bill Clinton and did not find any of them sufficiently credible. It would be hard to paint Ken Starr as anything other than doggedly determined to bring Clinton down, willing to use any credible witness to do so. - ARM

He then points out that these are the witnesses that he claims are "not credible"

Gennifer Flowers, Paula Corbin Jones, Monica Lewinsky, Kathleen Willey and Juanita Broaddrick.

Then he says this:

I am not defending Clinton [LO FUCKING L], just trying to see the truth. There is no question that Clinton is an undisciplined individual, for all he knew Lewinsky was a Russian or Israeli plant aiming to compromise him. He was not fit to be president. That doesn't make him a rapist.

LOL, yeah, he calls all of Clinton's accusers liars, but believes without the tiniest scintilla of doubt any and all accusers of Republicans without any consideration for the position of the accused.

If I am accused of murder, for example, leaving a young woman to suffocate over hours in a sunken car I had driven off the road, and my lawyer gets me let go with a charge of "leaving the scene of an accident" I would say that that lawyer did a pretty good job of "defending" me. And we are supposed to believe he is sincere.

I think ARM is either a dedicated partisan troll who has little or no regard for the truth of what he says, or has "the spergs" and can't understand how normal people thinks

Fernandinande said...

In 2012, the whole "Today" show gang made light of sexual harassment and impugned the motives of women who complain about it.

Well, it's about time! Even if that time was in the past.


"The abandonment."

Those poor groupies! What shall they do now?

(I actually surprised that something on a major TV network was that un-PC/accurate).

Jon Burack said...

I thought the skit really was funny. It's even funnier knowing what hypocrites they all are. But I am sorry, it all has nothing to do with anything pubic I care much about. And if the outcome is we will import into all our lives the Obama-era Title IX expansion with its assault on due process that DeVos has only just started to undo, count me out. We now have the ludicrously self-important phrase "Reckoning" to compete with the equally ludicrous and self-important "Resistance." Me, I'll await Thermidor, when hopefully some sense of proportion will return to dial down the histrionics.

David Begley said...

Annie C

Important comment by you. Agree the Althousian community could debate this in a serious way.

Part of the solution is to brand this as “The Recokning.” That is what Scott Adams (Master Persuader) would do.

Whatever Althouse comes up with it would be nice if she submitted an essay to NYT, WSJ, WaPo. And get PAID for it.

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

Tim stamps his little footsie in frustration. It is not my fault that both sides have more than their fair share of sleazebags. I don't make the news.

Matt Sablan said...

Notice how ARM's comment about Barton ignores he was in a consensual relationship with the woman he sent pictures to at the time? I didn't click on the link but when the lead in is dishonest, it makes it hard to decide to use time on it.

CJinPA said...

I thought the scene was funny. But some people want to stop funny and appreciation of vive le difference.

Yup. It was well done.

MacMacConnell said...

My question is, would your wife or sister fuck to keep her job or to advance professionally? Would you? Seems highly educated women do.

Anne in Rockwall, TX said...

Thank you David.

Amexpat said...

As "the Reckoning" continues, seemingly gathering steam daily, I am finding myself wondering how the situation can be fixed. I've thought a lot about it and can't seem to find a workable answer given human nature.

Short term, all the publicity, scrutiny and fear of repercussions will make it more difficult for sexual wrongdoing in the workplace. But long term you can't change human nature. Perhaps making NDAs non binding on the victim of sexual harassment might help.

mockturtle said...

I have never watched Lauer and have low regard for the industry as a whole. But IMO, adult women who are sexually assaulted need to report the assault AT THE TIME instead of holding it for years--even decades--for a 'gotcha' when it becomes useful. Speak up at the time or STFU!

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
rcocean said...

I never watched Matt Lauer so the woo-ha over him doesn't really touch me. But I wonder how many others at NBC were engaging the same behavior.

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

Matthew Sablan said...
ignores he was in a consensual relationship


Apparently Matthew is unclear on the meaning of the phrase 'smooth operator'. Pretty sure it has never included non-consensual relationships.

Owen said...

Annie C: what David said. Important comment.

Matt Sablan said...

Ok... so... why are you conflating a person in a consensual relationship had their trust broken by having intimate pictures of themselves exposed to the world without their consent with sexual assault? Or, did you not mean to do that, and it was just an accident of sloppy posting?

Unknown said...

The whole idea of consent has become bent out of shape. Every encounter is to be fenced round with notarized proofs of full disclosure and affirmation. But 30 years later some half-formed thought of regret or "recovered memory" is enough to end a career, evidence be damned.

Notice also what is implied by this formalistic approach to consent. That the participants are so deaf and blind to one another's real needs and interest, so unable or unwilling to attend to them as real people (rather than fellow athletes in an exercise of, at best, mutual gratification), that the propriety of the whole event must be documented for the benefit of that future judge and jury.

What a sad situation.

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

Have no clue what you are whining about. The post uses the heading from the article, self-evidently.

Michael said...

ARM
Trump said "there is nothing in this world like first rate pussy."

I presume you believe this statement to be false. Why am I not surprised.

Ken B said...

What "unawareness"? You mean "blind eye". They clearly knew, because they have been caught lying about not knowing: we now know that contrary to what NBC said there had been prior complaints. So we know NBC lied. The inference is they had even more guilty knowledge. It seems quite likely this is why Farrow's story was killed.

NBC remember is the outfit that deceptively edited the Zimmerman tape.

Matt Sablan said...

You copied a headline? Ah, ok. Sloppy posting is the answer. You may not realize it, but putting it here, and that using it in this context, makes it look like Barton was a Lauer-like harasser, when in reality, he was the victim.

Sloppy posting happens, don't worry about it.

Sebastian said...

"There's something awfully creepy about the way the women on the couch play along and act delighted about the fun of it all." Creepy but telling: the women played along. Many women played along. They were part of the tribe. They put career over principle. They happily put down complaining "sisters." They willingly put out for advancement. Progs protected progs.

Except that, after the fact, no woman is at fault.

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

Using the headline as the link text to an article is the most honest way to give the reader an understanding of the contents of the article. You are such a moron.

Ken B said...

"The whole idea of consent has become bent out of shape. Every encounter is to be fenced round with notarized proofs of full disclosure and affirmation. But 30 years later some half-formed thought of regret or "recovered memory" is enough to end a career, evidence be damned.

Notice also what is implied by this formalistic approach to consent. That the participants are so deaf and blind to one another's real needs and interest, so unable or unwilling to attend to them as real people (rather than fellow athletes in an exercise of, at best, mutual gratification), that the propriety of the whole event must be documented for the benefit of that future judge and jury.

What a sad situation."

Yes. And that dysfunction is actively promoted by Althouse who insists consent is not enough. There must be "caring".

CWJ said...

"Simply sharing interesting tidbits from todays news, that might otherwise get overlooked."

Note to Chuck. This is how its done.

Matt Sablan said...

"What "unawareness"?"

-- I have to say, signing off to build the "lock the door from my desk Evil Villain" button would have been my first clue that maaaaaaaaybe Lauer's not a good guy.

Amadeus 48 said...

Wow! That is a terrible segment, particularly in retrospect. Those are some smug, arrogant people.


William said...

Annie C. Is right, but it's so much more fun to damn the sinners and take pride In our own superior morality......A great deal of my exemplary moral behavior is contingent on the fact that I do not have a billion dollars, that I have never been in a position of absolute authority over beautiful women, and that I do not have a warm, reassuring smile that causes women's hearts to melt.......Nonetheless, Harvey is an utter pig. I feel comfortable in disapproving of him without being a hypocrite.

Bob Boyd said...

He had another button that would open a trap door over a tankful of hungry piranhas.

Sebastian said...

The reckoning can only lead to a new sexual regime if progs clean house for real, show that they are serious, hold their own accountable consistently, and refrain from turning their witch hunt into a convenient political strategy aimed against GOPers. After a generation or so, we might trust them. Otherwise, any new regime will turn into a political tool.

The reckoning can only lead to reasonable new rules if female progs resist the temptation to escalate to all-men-are-pigs, to resort to neo-Victorian Dworkinism, and to use those rules to advance their own power. Since that temptation is very great, and the advantages to prog women potentially very large, they are unlikely to resist. In the short run, any new sexual regime is therefore likely to be imposed by force.

William said...

I can see how Lauer was seduced into thinking that all women would be flattered by his attentions. He was surrounded by women whose continued employment was in some way contingent upon being flattered by his attention.

Unknown said...

I'm sure that ARM is frustrated that everyone seems to ignore his and Inga's and CHucks's constant and never-ending 'But what about Moore and Trump!!!!!"

See, everyone knows that the left and the media will never, ever fail to attack Republicans, whether it's fake or made up or even true. Republicans are held to a standard, and the left is always happy to point it out.

So his "But what about Republican XXXXXXXXX???" act is not news. What, all these accusations against Moore or Trump are new? Nonsense. After Clarence Thomas and Gingrich and Craig, it's not news that the Democrats attack Republicans.

This time, though, it's different. Liberal icons are being exposed as hypocritical sexist abusers. The very same people who sat on their thrones of sanctimony and "tsk tsked" and called on Republicans to denounce everyone--tjhey are exposed as the cynical partisan pieces of coprolite they are. And that's news.

The fact that you consistently try to distract from the burning times taking place on the left as person after person who preached "Holier than thou" is being set on fire and consumed. But you don't care, ARM, except "how can I distract and try to get the focus again on Republican's behaving badly, even if we are making it all up?"

You do see how it makes you appear to be a paid Soros troll, right? Anyone "reasonable" would be interested in this massive conflagration and reckoning occurring on the left.

But that's not you, is it?

--Vance

bgates said...

He's a smooth operator:

Lol, you're not.

Using the headline as the link text to an article is the most honest way to give the reader an understanding of the contents of the article. You are such a moron.

You linked to the front page of the Daily Mail's US section, "reasonable" "man". Following the link just now, I saw headlines including

Matt Lauer APOLOGIZES for the 'damage and disappointment' he has caused to his family and NBC as the fired Today host admits there is 'enough truth' in the bombshell sex assault allegations

and

'He just violated my body': John Conyers' former staffer who accused congressman of sexual misconduct and then agreed to a settlement breaks her silence - but Democrat's attorney says he has no plans to resign

and

BREAKING NEWS: Congress's accused serial sex pest John Conyers, 88, checks into hospital for 'stress' then blames it on 'media assault'

-but the name "Barton" does not appear.

CWJ said...

"I thought the Trump one did this. Jeffrey Epstein and Trump together on “The Lolita Express” makes Clinton's association with the two men look even worse."

Yeah, except that's not true.

MacMacConnell said...

“I’ve known Jeff for 15 years,” Trump told New York magazine in 2002, calling Epstein a “terrific guy,” and “a lot of fun to be with.”

2002 is 3 years prior to the Epstein investigation for soliciting under age girls for prostitution.

ARM seems to think rich folk don't know their other rich neighbors, especially ones that both have homes in NYC and Palm Springs, also belong to the same golf clubs, eat at the same restaurants, etc. It's not called high society for nothing.

Epstein is a donor of Chuck Schumer, Anthony Weiner's mentor. It's been rumored Chuck has flown on Epstein's plane along with anyone who is anyone. Of course that is not a indictment of Chuck, there's plenty of things not to like about chuck, for instants, he's a bag of dicks.

I've ridden in a made man's Cadillac Escalade, been in his house, played golf with him, had a beer at the local sports bar with him and guess what? It doesn't make me a Mafioso.

Unknown said...

Sebastian: "...After a generation or so, we might trust them." Yes. But today's world has an attention span measured in femtoseconds. So, not going to happen.

carrie said...

The abandonment probably means there were probably also lies about a future relationship--like Bill Clinton telling Monica Lewinsky that he was going to divorce Hillary and marry her.

MadisonMan said...

Agree the Althousian community could debate this in a serious way.

It seems to me, if I'm serious, that people who run a business want to have their needs met. Some of those needs are related to improving the business, making it bigger, more profitable, etc. (I guess -- I've not run a business.) Some of those needs might be more personal in nature.

Now if you are hired by such a person, you have different ways to curry favor. Make the business better or more efficient, thereby earning it more money. You can also curry favor in a more personal way, if the owner is up for it. Either way can be beneficial to you.

This is all very human.

I read articles written by woman, bemoaning the stuff they have to put up with, the death-by-a-thousand cuts that can happen in any soul-sucking job. Some are personal, some are sexual, some are work-related. Here's a newsflash, ladies: This happens to men too. But I think men are more likely to accept things and move on.

Does this mean it's an ideal state of affairs? No. We don't live in Utopia, after all. If you don't like how your boss treats you, the solution is to find another, better boss or become your own boss.

And I'm left asking: Are employees strong, or are they not? A strong employee focuses on the job to do, and gets it done, whatever the impediments thrown in their path.

MacMacConnell said...

The good news is that the House voted yesterday to require all members and staff take a seminar on sexual harassment in the work place. Evidently a lot of men working in congress don't know the proper way to treat women at work because their mothers were whores, which explains a lot.

Anonymous said...

FIDO: (except that Lauer, Polanski, Weinstein and Clinton all seem to have crossed that line hard)

Snicker.

Anonymous said...

Annie C @7:33:

Adding myself to the others upvoting your comment.

I can see this is an important issue to you based on your posts, and I am following your thinking as best I can. Yet, I still cannot find an answer that allows for human behavior.

Yes.

And that conversation would be much more interesting than 100s of comments emulating a tu quoque generator.

Fernandinande said...

Steve said...
Still not as creepy as his real interview of Anne Hathaway.


That poor woman decided to show her genitals in public for publicity because men are naughty.

MadisonMan said...

Does it matter to anyone if someone advances in a company through hard work or through hard cock, so to speak, if they are getting their job done once they get the advancement?

(The last if statement is the important one).

I suppose if it generates (sorry) hard feelings so that the work environment is toxic, then maybe yes. But should feelings be hurt permanently if the promoted person is competent?

exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...

As I noted a couple of weeks ago, Trump was hardly the only prominent person to associate with Epstein back in the day. Physicist Gell-Mann often attended his dinner parties and said in an interview that Epstein "always has beautiful women around him."

"Through such philanthropy, Epstein has associated with many well-known scientific figures, such as Gerald Edelman, Murray Gell-Mann, Stephen Hawking, Kip Thorne, Lawrence Krauss, Lee Smolin and Gregory Benford.[4][13][14] In 2006, Epstein's foundations sponsored a conference on St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands with Hawking, Krauss, and Nobel laureates Gerard 't Hooft, David Gross and Frank Wilczek, covering such topics as unified gravity theory, neuroscience, the origins of language and global threats to the Earth"

I am waiting for ARM to denounce and demand investigations of all those scientists and Harvard University as well. Harvard accepted huge donations from Epstein and never returned them.

ARM likes to pretend Trump was the only person in Manhattan who was friendly with Esptein. That is because ARM is a liar and continues to lie even when he is repeatedly confronted with the truth.

Anonymous said...

Mac McConnell: The good news is that the House voted yesterday to require all members and staff take a seminar on sexual harassment in the work place.

At last, a solution.

(But seriously, at least these clowns being forced to sit through some other Clown World clown's training seminar would be satisfying, if small, condign punishment.)

Breezy said...

That Sarah Hoyt article cited above should be required reading in this debate.

Amexpat said...

Annie C. Is right, but it's so much more fun to damn the sinners and take pride In our own superior morality......A great deal of my exemplary moral behavior is contingent on the fact that I do not have a billion dollars, that I have never been in a position of absolute authority over beautiful women, ...

I agree that Annie C is right and with your point that power corrupts and many of us doing the mocking now might engage in similar activities if we were in a position of power. But one of the mechanisms for controlling such behavior is for those out of power to mock and shame the powerful sinners. I think that ridicule is perhaps even more of a deterrent than financial sanctions or a short jail term for people like charlie Rose and Matt Lauer. They've not only lost high profile jobs that they cherish but most likely will be excluded for the social circles they'd want to associate with.

Drago said...

ARM is busy tossing thimbles of watery "tidbits" at the incoming tide of democrat/left harassment and enablement.

Bless his heart.

Nice said...

Not much has changed, particularly the women.... the hero-worship on the part of Savannah Guthrie, Kathie Lee & Gayle King coddling, and glorifying these men after announcing sordid allegations.

Savannah Guthrie: My "dear, dear Friend" ????? Lady, your dear Friend is a rapist. Lauer "summoned" a co-worker to his office then he pulled down her pants and he did the deed. Isn't that called rape? Meanwhile Savannah all smiles, keeps schilling for her pal. Feminists, indeed!

Nice said...

BTW: Has Oprah made a statement yet about her pal Bill Cosby?

Owen said...

The Sarah Hoyt piece is a must-read. And I reiterate my question in an earlier thread: why didn't these super-empowered, choice-enabled, supremely-competent women just kick these predators in the nuts? Or better yet, claw their TV Idol faces? "Uh, Mr. Lauer, we're going to have to shoot the show from the other side and with special lighting. That big bruise and the scratches? Just can't hide it with pancake. Sorry. That was quite a nasty fall you took, sir..."

bgates said...

Bless his heart.

It's a difficult task he's set himself. Already the headlines I posted an hour ago are slightly out of date, joined now by news of a fifth accusation against Al Franken, and Russell Simmons stepping down after Sidney Lumet's daughter accused him of rape.

(Nothing on the US front page about Rep Barton though.)

madAsHell said...

When the reporter becomes the story.......

Nice said...

Why is Today Show even covering this? They could easily simply consider the whole thing a Personnel matter and say nothing. I would think, legally, that would be the best strategy. But, to have Savannah Guthrie reading Lauer's absurd apology letter on camera is really bizarre. The way they're handling this.... on some level, I think NBC News enjoys the creepy-ness of it all ---sort of reveling in it.

Anne in Rockwall, TX said...

Good points.

Find a better boss may work if the job market loosens up as it seems to be doing, but when the question comes down to give your boss a blow job so you can feed your kids, it's not easy.

Ridicule seems to work for now, but lordy, is seems to be everywhere. How long until it's a badge of honor? Like those bars with women's panties tacked to the ceiling.

Curious George said...

Lauer:
“Some of what is being said about me is untrue or mischaracterized, but there is enough truth in these stories to make me feel embarrassed and ashamed,” Mr. Lauer wrote in a message issued by his public relations team. “I regret that my shame is now shared by the people I cherish dearly.”

“There are no words to express my sorrow and regret for the pain I have caused others by words and actions,” Mr. Lauer wrote. “To the people I have hurt, I am truly sorry. As I am writing this I realize the depth of the damage and disappointment I have left behind at home and at NBC.”

“Repairing the damage will take a lot of time and soul-searching and I’m committed to beginning that effort. It is now my full-time job. The last two days have forced me to take a very hard look at my own troubling flaws. It’s been humbling. I am blessed to be surrounded by the people I love. I thank them for their patience and grace.”

What a steaming pile. These fuckers are only sorry when they are exposed. This asshole had to know the hammer was likely to fall. I think in the near future you will see guys coming out in advance to mitigate the damage. But that's all this is...damage control. If they could get away with it their behavior would continue.

Anne in Rockwall, TX said...

Wow, who knew I could agree with Sally Kohn. This mess transcends politics.

Sally Kohn

@sallykohn
Noteworthy that NBC fired Matt Lauer amidst reports that New York Times has been investigating Lauer "for weeks." These companies seem to only be taking action not because of what they know but because it might become public. Sickening. Shame on them.
9:27 AM - Nov 29, 2017

Inga said...

Looks like good old Joe has a habit. He’s announcing he won’t be seeking re-election.

Joe Barton caught sending explicit text messages to another woman. Kelly you are soft and curvy, I like that': US congressman Joe Barton caught sending explicit text messages to woman - a week after apologizing for sending nude pics to another woman. A Republican woman named Kelly Canon has shared a series of messages she exchanged with then-married Congressman Joe Barton.Some of the messages are sexually suggestive, as Barton asked her questions about if she had 'panties on' and told her once she was 'soft and curvy'. Barton admitted to the exchanges with Canon to the Star-Telegram Wednesday. This comes after he apologized last week for texting a nude photo of himself to another woman that was leaked on social media.

Nice said...

Savannah Guthrie: "We are heartbroken" (not outraged, just heartbroken)

Gayle King: "I can't turn off my feelings"

Unknown said...

Based on Inga's hot news about Congressman Barton, I guess the lesson is: smash your phone. Now. Burn your laptop. Now. Just...go dark. Because? Somebody with whom you had apparently warm personal relations, a relationship of trust, decided to burn your sorry a$$ by posting your intimacies online.

Without our clothes on, we all look weak and vulnerable, outright ridiculous. And that applies to metaphorical clothes as well. This guy's unguarded and heartfelt words are wince-worthy; but I doubt mine would be any improvement. And, folks, I doubt yours would be, either.

Whatever happened to common decency? At long last, sir?

Inga said...

Althouse righties: Let’s not pay attention to our own sexual predators, let’s just talk about it as if it’s a leftie problem.

https://www.texasmonthly.com/burka-blog/joe-barton-sent-suggestive-messages-arlington-woman/

“It’s only been a few days since Joe Barton’s nude selfies surfaced on the internet, and at that point, we were discussing his savvy public relations pivot that might just save his political career. “As salacious as a naked photo of a congressman might be, victimhood goes a long way toward earning forgiveness from voters,” I wrote last Friday. Well, as of today, stick a fork into Barton, because he’s done.

The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported this afternoon that Barton sent several inappropriate messages to Arlington Republican activist Kelly Canon through Facebook. For years, she told the paper, she had discussed politics with Barton on Facebook, but in 2012 and 2013, he made several inappropriate suggestions to her. Canon shared copies with the newspaper, including the following exchanges:

Barton: “wanna tell me what u r wearing or not wearing tonight miss sweet dreams.”

On Monday, the Tarrant County GOP leadership had urged Barton to drop his re-election plans. Today, state Senator Konni Burton, whose district overlaps with Barton’s congressional district, urged him to drop out:

“We must hold public officials to a high standard and recent publicized incidents demonstrate those standards were not met. With only weeks left for primary filing, I am asking Joe Barton not to seek re-election so that Tarrant County can move forward in making sure we send a strong conservative to Congress from District 6. Many have discussed Tarrant County Tax Assessor Collector Ron Wright stepping up to run for this position in the event Congressman Barton does not seek reelection. Ron is a man of great character and integrity and I want to make it clear that I am one hundred percent behind him if he decides to do so.””

Drago said...

2 more accusers pop up against Franken!!

https://theslot.jezebel.com/new-england-elected-official-says-al-franken-tried-to-g-1820849687

http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/362510-army-veteran-accuses-franken-of-groping-her-during-uso-tour

Unfortunately, these accusers, like Inga, are white, and as we have all been informed by the dems, white women cannot be believed.

You know, it would have been nice if Inga had shared this New Democrat Rule with us earlier.

Drago said...

BTW, Pelosi shows great "courage" (LOL) and is now, ONLY now, completely abandoning her "ICON"/"due process" assertions for Conyers and issuing fake calls for Conyers to resign.

Looks like some pollsters and botox experts found a way to get a little bit of reality into her skull.

LOL

But only because Pelosi has cut a back door deal with Conyers that she would call for him to resign KNOWING he will not.

Transparently and hilariously cynical.

But it will be enough to keep the lemmings like Inga "on board".

Matt Sablan said...

If Franken goes to the hospital over stress too, we'll be at peak nonsense.

mockturtle said...

Savannah Guthrie: "We are heartbroken" (not outraged, just heartbroken)

Gayle King: "I can't turn off my feelings"


Makes me want to gag.

Drago said...

Inga's beloved Russell Simmons going down as well!

Well, only if the accuser is not a white woman. Naturally.

Drago said...

"Makes me want to gag."

Makes Inga feel all cuddly and warm about Lauer.

I mean, just because Lauer actually, LITERALLY, created a "cage"-office where he could trap women for his sexual abuse, that is no reason why lefty/liberal women can't still "love him".

Just as Inga loved Billy boy for decades even after she knew about Clinton's transgressions.

One can imagine that the love of the lefty women for Clinton might have been precisely BECAUSE of their desire to be abused by lefty/male feminist men just like him.

Inga said...

“Makes Inga feel all cuddly and warm about Lauer.”

“Inga’s beloved Russell Simmons going down as well!”

Oh there you go again, hysterical hyperbole. But that what makes you so cute. Why as a leftie, do you assume I give a rat’s ass about them?

CWJ said...

Inga,

ARM's already plowed this field. But he fled this thread after lying about Trump being on the "lolita express" to infest the tax thread instead.

Ken B said...

"Makes me want to gag."

Makes me want to snicker, but we both agree that they are lying. NBC is lying, these co-hosts are lying. There had to be a wink-wink nudge-nudge for this to be able to go on for so long. And we know there was because we have women who say they complained and women who say they knew the stories. Megyn Kelly says she heard the stories, but not "officially", and she hasn't been there long and isn't even on the same show.

Inga said...

“ARM's already plowed this field. But he fled this thread after lying about Trump being on the "lolita express" to infest the tax thread instead.”

It’s not much of a stretch to imagine he was. He was a friend of Epstein’s for years. Trump had a court case brought against him accusing him of raping a 13 year old girl in a Epstein orgy, which were known to have happened at Mar a Lago.

"I've known Jeff for fifteen years. Terrific guy,'' Trump booms from a speakerphone. "He's a lot of fun to be with. It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side. No doubt about it -- Jeffrey enjoys his social life."
Donald Trump

“Epstein was also a regular visitor to Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago, and the two were friends. According to the Daily Mail, Trump was a frequent dinner guest at Epstein’s home, which was often full of barely dressed models. In 2003, New York magazine reported that Trump also attended a dinner party at Epstein’s honoring Bill Clinton.”

https://nypost.com/2016/10/09/the-sex-slave-scandal-that-exposed-pedophile-billionaire-jeffrey-epstein/

exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...

The flip side of it, Annie, is the experience Tucker Carlson had, which he spoke about on his show the other night. He was accused by a woman of having molested her in a hotel in Indiana several years ago. The accusation was highly detailed and explicit. However, Carlson had never even met this woman and was not in Indiana when the incident supposedly took place. He did not tell his family because he was too embarrassed by the charges. He did not tell his employer (I don’t know if he was working for Fox at the time or not) because he knew he would be fired immediately. He hired attorneys who were able to prove that the story was false. It was still an expensive, humiliating and scary episode that dragged out over the course of a summer.

n.n said...

The best solution is to not "go along to get along", but to establish an official record, and without a resolution to move on. The market is a democratic construct that can serve to moderate abnormal and even intolerable behaviors, including movements and groups that will attack and deny people gainful employment out of spite.

exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...

" He was a friend of Epstein’s for years"

So were many prominent people in NY, dumbbell. Manhattan billionaires move in the same social circles. How amazing!

I'm willing to bet Epstein's friends included a few NY Times editors and publishers. After all, he was a big donor to Dem politics.

In other words, another perverted liberal.

Drago said...

Epstein apparently felt very comfortable in New York.

New York Values!

Inga said...

“So were many prominent people in NY, dumbbell. Manhattan billionaires move in the same social circles. How amazing!”

All very innocent, of course, genius. Who knew you’d be defending the New York elite.

Drago said...

Inga still thinks its November 7, 2016.

The entirety of the Left and LLR's desperately yearn to return to that moment and glow of certain victory.

Ken B said...

I believe single party consent recordings should be legal. Imagine how easy a lot of this stuff would be to prove?

Drago said...

Don't listen to Inga.

She's just a white chick. "bro's before ho's!"

Drago said...

Inga: "It’s not much of a stretch to imagine he was."

LOL

I just knew we would reach the point, as we have so many times in the past, where Inga gets to "imagine" stuff and then pretend that is a basis for action!

This is precisely what she pulled with the golden dossiers, collusion nonsense, and "I imagine" quite alot more!!

Inga said...

“Don't listen to Inga”.

Yes, put your fat rightie fingers in your ears and cover your bulging eyes and pretend it’s only a leftie problem.

Inga said...

“where Inga gets to "imagine" stuff and then pretend that is a basis for action!”

It’s not a stretch. The Epstein orgies were often held at MarA Lago. Common knowlege.


“PALM BEACH —
President Donald Trump is a shadowy, but ever-present, figure in the never-ending saga of billionaire sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Mar-a-Lago, the commander-in-chief’s private-club-turned-southern-White-House in Palm Beach, was the backdrop for Epstein’s introduction to one of his dozens of teenage victims, according to court records.

In a short-lived lawsuit that Trump decried as “categorically false,” a California woman last year sued Trump and Epstein in federal court in New York City, claiming the two business tycoons raped her when she was 13 years old.

And Trump is on a star-studded witness list for an upcoming trial in Palm Beach County Circuit Court that attorney Jack Scarola promises will be the first public airing of Epstein’s lurid lifestyle.

But, Scarola acknowledges, it is unlikely the president will be part of what Scarola promises will be a salacious trial in the fall.”

http://www.palmbeachdailynews.com/news/national-govt--politics/how-many-degrees-separation-between-trump-and-sex-offender-epstein/WC1WNrtBC6uc9jCqk4COsL/

Drago said...

Inga: "Yes, put your fat rightie fingers in your ears and cover your bulging eyes and pretend it’s only a leftie problem"

"In a short-lived lawsuit..."

LOL

exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...

All very innocent, of course, genius. Who knew you’d be defending the New York elite.


11/30/17, 12:14 PM

I'm not. Many of those people were either hoodwinked by Epstein or knew about him and didn't care. So they were stupid and/or corrupt.

And yet you uncritically swallow all the dreck the NY Times spoon feeds you and think those people should rule over the rest of us, like lords ruling over medieval serfs. Because they're soooo much wiser and smarter than those deplorables!

Anybody who believes in big government has the soul of a slave.

exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...

"put your fat rightie fingers"

That sounds like an insult a 5 year old would come up with.

Drago said...

Jeffrey Epstein.

Democrat.

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

CWJ said...
lying about Trump being on the "lolita express"


Apparently reading comprehension is not your thing. From the article I linked to:

Trump’s friendship with Epstein isn’t news. Before the mysterious financier was jailed for operating a sexual pyramid scheme where he allegedly paid minors around $200 for sexual massages that included groping and rape, Epstein was a regular at Mar-a-Lago and had, according to a sworn deposition from Epstein’s brother, ferried the future president at least once on his plane.

That plane is known, by some, as the 'lolita express'.

M. Maxwell said...

NBC used to have an in-house legal dept. As with everything else, network legal has been outsourced and eliminated. It's hard to believe any competent studio lawyer would sign-off on a existing co-host reading a fired co-host's stilted "apology" on camera.

Then again, these women have been fronting for these guys for so long, why stop now....

Drago said...

You know, I really feel bad for ARM and Inga.

They are doing their darndest to pull off a modern version of 'all those racist democrat/jim crow types were actually republicans all along' scam and there is so much "white noise" (Sorry Rep Clyburn!!!) due to the hundreds (if not thousands) of dems/lefties harassing women and enabling that harassment that the poor little foot soldiers of the left that we see here (ARM/Inga/Chuck) simply can't break through!

Its so very very unfair!

Inga said...

“Jeffrey Epstein.

Democrat.”
———————
Donald Trump

Republican
—————-
Roy Moore

Republican
—————-
Joe Barton

Republican
——————

But pay no attention, it’s only a leftie problem, eh?

Inga said...

“You know, I really feel bad for ARM and Inga”

That’s sweet, but you really shouldn’t. We do more than hold our own amidst the sea of Trumpists and conservatives here. How long would you last on a Leftie site?

Ken B said...

"That plane is known, by some, as the 'lolita express'."

This is like saying car 23789 is the Twentieth Century Express. The physical plane is not the "Lolita Express". The flight with the Lolitas is. The locale is not the event. It's like saying if I go for a stroll at Max Yasgur's farm I'm at Woodstock.

Big Mike said...

@Althouse, and other lawyers, it seems to me that women who claimed to have been harassed by Lauer in his office could include NBC itself in the suit, given that they installed the remote door lock for him. Am I correct?

Drago said...

Think of it this way ARM.

The normal lefty lies about republicans are no longer working. Part of that is certainly due to the fact that your playbook is old and tired, like Nancy.

On top of that, the fact that its clear to everyone that you guys don't actually believe a single thing you lecture everyone about creates an communication barrier that is difficult for you to break through.

On top of what is already on top, you and your pals have been found to be the vastly larger transgressors of the very things you say you are against and then your pals were found to be rationalizing it!!

LOL

That has created an almost impenetrable "white noise" message-jamming barrier.

In electronic warfare, when confronted with an "barrier" such as this, you have to amp up the power of your message to burn through the "white noise" and get your message across.

Which brings us to your next to last problem.

You don't amp up the "power" of your message by mindlessly pulling all the old tricks and repeating them over and over again. I realize that is all the Inga's of the world are capable of but you should know better.

And you won't amp up the power by pretending to care about stuff you were making fun of literally just months ago.

You need a new message.

Which brings us to your final problem: you guys are.........you.

So there it is. Dead in the water.

Drago said...

Inga: "We do more than hold our own amidst the sea of Trumpists and conservatives here."

The results last November proved conclusively how well you "hold your own".

Here's to many more years of you "holding your own"!

Dilly-dilly! (which is, admittedly, already getting stale)

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

I feel bad for Drago, still carrying water for sexist creeps. The old ways are gone Drago. Events are ushering in a new world, filled with female media personalities and movie producers. I am sure you will be much more comfortable in this new world. Fewer Roger Ailes and even more Rachel Maddows. A veritable heaven on earth.

Drago said...

AReasonableMan: "I feel bad for Drago, still carrying water for sexist creeps."

Note to self: pull up video of democrats giving a standing ovation to Roman Polanski in hollywood AND pictures of democrat congress folks giving standing ovation to Gerry Studds.

ARM: "I feel bad for Drago, still carrying water for sexist creeps."

For Rachel Maddow's sake, let us all pray there are no more lefty/male feminist personalities in place to harass her, as we've seen EVERYWHERE the lefty/male feminists have dominated.

BTW, did you ever install your own Sex Cage/Trap Office lock, like lefty hero Matt Lauer?

Inga said...

‘I feel bad for Drago, still carrying water for sexist creeps. The old ways are gone Drago. Events are ushering in a new world, filled with female media personalities and movie producers. I am sure you will be much more comfortable in this new world. Fewer Roger Ailes and even more Rachel Maddows. A veritable heaven on earth.”

I feel bad for him too, well just a teensy weeny bit. He’s been frantically pointing fingers at politicians and celebrities on the Left, while so very OBVIOUSLY not making even one mention of the sexual predators on the Right. It’s sort of sad that he can’t debate in an honest way, that it’s a problem that exists across the political spectrum.

Drago said...

ARM: "A veritable heaven on earth."

I have been informed by the left that "heaven" is a fiction, unless it's the islamic version of heaven, which must be respected by all at all times.

exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...

"That’s sweet, but you really shouldn’t."

That's because Inga is too dumb to realize just how dumb she is. If she were smarter, she would realize that commenters here tell other commenters "that's unworthy of you. That sounds like something Inga would say" because it is widely understood that Inga = stupidity.

It's cute that she imagines she holds her own here. Uh, huh. Just like Custer held his own when he was surrounded by Elizabeth Warren's ancestors.

Thanks for more laffs!

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

Drago said...
how well you "hold your own"


The only person I have seen definitely hold his own on this site was Joe Barton.

Let me see if I can find a link. Yes, here it is.

Drago said...

Inga: "He’s been frantically pointing fingers at politicians and celebrities on the Left.."

Note to self: stop linking NYT, Washington Post, The Hill, CNN, LA Times, Variety, Hollywood Reporter, ABC/NBC/CBS reports about the hundreds of lefty harassers and enablers on the left.

It makes some visitors to Althouse....uncomfortable.

Now, back to your regularly scheduled program of "Which lefty/male feminists also assaulted women and were defended by other lefties?!"

Inga said...

“That's because Inga is too dumb to realize just how dumb she is. If she were smarter, she would realize that commenters here tell other commenters "that's unworthy of you. That sounds like something Inga would say" because it is widely understood that Inga = stupidity.”

Coming from you this is actually comical. I’m glad though, that you decided to be your true self again. I didn’t know what to make of you when you momentarily decided to be human. Very short lived though. I knew it wouldn’t last, LOL.

Drago said...

ARM, I tried to help you with my 12:51 posting, but it appears that your "final problem" is insurmountable.

Good luck in the coming elections with your Joe Barton Strategy.

I have a feeling its going to be a winner for you!

exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...

What, because I apologized for misreading a comment you made? No, I admit when I'm wrong. I'd never expect you to show the same courtesy.

Drago said...

Inga, now would be a good time to repost all the same links you've been posting for the last year.

If nothing else, it may make you feel better about Matt's demise and your failure to secure an interview with "Harvey" prior to the recent "unpleasantness".

Inga said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Drago said...

Uh oh.

Now a 6th accuser for Inga's beloved Al Franken.

Wasn't Al Franken #27 on Inga's list of "New Leader of the Free World"?

Again, ARM, Inga and Chuck, good luck with the Democrat 2018 Campaign Barton Strategy. I think you're really onto something with that.

Anne in Rockwall, TX said...

exiledonmainstreet
said...
The flip side of it, Annie, is the experience Tucker Carlson had, which he spoke about on his show the other night. He was accused by a woman of having molested her in a hotel in Indiana several years ago. The accusation was highly detailed and explicit. However, Carlson had never even met this woman and was not in Indiana when the incident supposedly took place. He did not tell his family because he was too embarrassed by the charges. He did not tell his employer (I don’t know if he was working for Fox at the time or not) because he knew he would be fired immediately. He hired attorneys who were able to prove that the story was false. It was still an expensive, humiliating and scary episode that dragged out over the course of a summer.

I wonder how often this happens. More than we know would be my guess.

CWJ said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
truth speaker said...

This wasn't funny 5 years ago and not funny now.